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Citation: Wolpert-Gawron, H. (2015, July 29). Career Readiness: Starting Early With Young Learners. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/career-readiness-starting-early-young-learners-heather-wolpert-gawron

Summary: The article interviews Jonie Watanabe Tsuji about her expertise in getting students ready for college and their careers.For young learners, building a variety of skills is best for career readiness. The best skills to develop are listening and spelling. A career ready student is described as  someone “who has a good sense of him/herself and is willing to listen and have a conversation about the world of work.” She has series of tips for engaging students: work on conversational skills, planning lessons with real world applications, asking students about their careers at each level, and encouraging students to keep in touch with each other. She outlines different levels, and at each she emphasizes the importance of getting students to engage with each other and professionals who are not their parents.

Analysis:

This source was found on Edutopia, and is aimed at educators and professionals in the field. However, it did not provide any concrete example with what jobs children should interview for and their tier of jobs. Since the interview was for someone who works at colleges, the jobs she may be thinking of are possibly white collar jobs and college readiness.

Tsuji’s methods rely on asking students questions and having them interact with each other. These methods are closely aligned with the student centered techniques of Inquiry Based Learning and Project Based Learning. The focus on communication between students fits in well with these new pedagogies.

A tip Tsuji gives is integrate real world lessons into the projects. This is another element of these new student centered pedagogy that is being introduced. It not only engages the children, but allows for deep learning they can carry for the rest of their lives.

In the 7th grade, Tsuji advises that more independence is given to the students and they are allowed to have discussions outside of the classroom. For example, field trips should take them beyond the confines of school and they should be able to interact with experts. This seems to be the logical conclusion of student centered curriculum which leads to independent inquiries.

The most interesting point was to encourage student relationships beyond school! Tsuji then addresses that most people get jobs through connections, which is completely true. While student centered learning focuses on the students interacting with each other and completing tasks together, I have not seen anything focusing on lasting bonds between the students in my research so far. This is also a tricky thing to emphasis. How can you foster lasting friendships between students when you only have a year with them? This is something I will be looking into.

Fostering career readiness in students seems to be aligned with the goals of student centered learning albeit unintentionally. However, “what jobs” is frequently left out of the conversation.

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So I reached out to a friend of mine that has some authority in career readiness to talk about ways to scaffold the skills our students need to know.

Words from an Expert

Jonie Watanabe Tsuji is a National Certified Counselor (NCC) with a master's degree in college counseling student services and a graduate certificate in career counseling. She worked at Caltech for 10 years and is now a career counselor at Harvey Mudd College and a career counselor/consultant for graduate and post-doctorate students at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.

It turns out that she too had been thinking about this subject and had begun honing in on what different grade levels could be doing to get our students career ready. She shares her thoughts in today's post.

Tsuji defines career readiness in a very simple way: It's about being able to have conversations, well-spoken ones, on jobs and your place in a world filled with them. She explained, "To me, career readiness is a student who has a good sense of him/herself and is willing to listen and have a conversation about the world of work."

So let's back-plan a student's experience with this career conversation by starting at the top of the education ladder.

Career Advice for the Ages

To start, when Tsuji begins to counsel adults about career (postgraduates, PhD students, and beyond), she asks simple questions and assigns them categories with which to understand her client better:

"What do you like to do in your free time?" (Interests.)

"If you could do a job, without putting a name on the actual job, what type of things would you like to do?" (Skills.)

"What is important to you in a job?" People might say, "a job where I help people," or "a job where I only work eight-to-five, no overtime and no weekends," or "a non-profit for the greater good." (Values.)

Most importantly, Tsuji asks the people she works with to reflect: "When you were a little kid, and people asked you, "What do you want to be when you grow up, what was your response? When you were a little older, maybe middle-school age, what did you say? And finally, when you were in high school, what did you say?"

"Typically there's a pattern you see emerge," she explained. Maybe the little kid wanted to be a cowboy while the middle school student wished to be a police officer. The high school version of the same student might want to become a CSI investigator or member of the FBI. The wishes, you see, are related.

Tips for Preparing Students

So given the power of this kind of reflection, Tsuji breaks it down into four ways to incorporate career readiness at any academic level:

1) Teach students conversational skills. Students need to feel comfortable "in their own skin" and know about themselves. They should be able to hold a conversation with anyone (not just their friends and peers, but also adults). She found that the most successful college students -- the excellent networkers -- were those who were taught at a young age to talk to adults (friends of parents, for example).

2) Incorporate the world of work into the lessons. Find examples of how history relates to current professions. Find model texts that are career-related. For example, demonstrate how people can use math in everyday life -- and what mathematicians do in finance or insurance, as engineers or in computer science.

3) Ask students about their career goals at each level. Much like her series of questions above, perhaps students can keep a K-12 career portfolio or log, something that poses questions about goals at each stage of the game. It's a way to help students reflect back to see if there are patterns emerging.

4) Encourage students to keep in touch with their friends from school. Networking is the number one way that people get jobs. If students don't do this (or feel uncomfortable doing this), they will have difficulty finding out about job opportunities, interviewing for jobs, etc.

Kindergarten teachers need to give kids opportunities to interact verbally. They need to discuss topics with each other, with classroom volunteers, heck, even with the classroom pet. In other words, it's never too early to get started preparing our students for the career world.

Fourth grade teachers need to have kids work in more group projects. Tsuji adds, "When on field trips, have them ask whoever is leading the group: What do they like about their job? What do they do other than lead field trips?"

Seventh grade teachers should be encouraging more independent and unsupervised discussion both on campus and off campus. She explained how teachers need to assign projects that get kids out of the classroom so they can talk to people who do jobs outside of their small circle of experience. Also, bring experts into the classroom that students can interview in a more targeted way.

The Most Important Skill in All Grades

The most important standard to focus on for career readiness, says Tsuji, is listening and speaking. To meet this standard, a teacher at any grade level can do the following:

Have students sign up and choose a job they are interested in and do some research about it.

Encourage students to conduct an informal interview with each other to learn about the different jobs.

Assign students to interview an adult (a non-parent) about his or her job.

Sure, kids will learn about professions this way, but it's really about giving students a structure to discuss and carry on conversations -- that is the key skill. Examples of this are: talking on topic (efficiently and authentically), listening deeply, responding to others, asking questions, and posing follow-up comments or questions.

The important thing to come away with here is that a silent classroom is not teaching career readiness. In fact, it's stifling it. So get the kids talking, encourage them to keep in touch -- and teach career readiness by permitting deep conversations.

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Career Readiness: Starting Early With Young Learners

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So I reached out to a friend of mine that has some authority in career readiness to talk about ways to scaffold the skills our students need to know. Jonie Watanabe Tsuji is a National Certified Counselor (NCC) with a master's degree in college counseling student services and a graduate certificate in career counseling.

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Team A
Citation:
Nellie Mae Education Foundation. (2015). This diagram illustrates each of the four principles of student-centered learning, with an explanation for each principle below it. Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents. https://www.capss.org/educational-transformation/what-are-student-centered-approaches.
Summary:
Nellie Mae Education Foundation published this diagram to show the components of student-centered learning and what this style of learning can lead to. the diagram also had small discriptions explaining the individual topics in the picture. According to the diagram, there are four components of student-centered learning. first is personalized learning which refers to acknowledging that students have different way of learning as well as different skills. second part of this pedagogy is student-owned learning. Students are in charge of their own learning and success. the third component is competency- based learning, where students only advance to next course is when they mastered the current subject. fourth and final component is anytime, anywhere learning. this means, students do not stop learning outside the classroom. their education continues both inside and outside no matter when or where.
Analysis:

This diagram shows the different ways a student-centered learning is effective for students. Students recieve more personalized education based on their interests and needs. Since they have more autonomy on what and how they would like to learn, they are more likely to have a deep understanding of the subject material.

The deeper understanding of the subject materials is more likely to stay with them longterm instead of short term understanding that is only retained till exams are over. This also makes the learning experience more pleasant and digestable for all types of learners and they can take what they learned with them in the future school and career.

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Citation:
TED-Ed. (2013, March 16). Let’s use video to reinvent education - Salman Khan [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC58z4N0IWw

Summary: This YouTube video, published by TED Talks and presented by educator Sal Khan, focuses on how technology can be incorporated into the classroom to encourage mastery. Through Khan Academy, teachers are able to "flip" the classroom, utilizing class time for working through problems together and focusing on concepts students have trouble with rather than lectures. Sal walks the audience through features of Khan Academy and shows us results from integrating the website into classrooms in Los Altos.

Analysis:

I used this video as a follow up to my previous resource after my group mates asked some questions. This video goes into detail about how video can be used to reinvent education. Through the flipped classroom, students are able to achieve mastery more easily and be encouraged to take agency over their learning. This is relevant to how different pedagogical styles (technology incorporation in this case) can help prepare students for higher education/future careers.

The data that Sal displayed was collected directly through his website. The website is able to compile data that is easy for teachers to follow, such as which students are currently working on what concept, which students have mastered it, which students are having trouble, and more.

The data from the classrooms in Los Altos showed promising results. It showed that the vision for more classrooms to follow this style of integration is possible.

The vision behind Khan Academy was to be able to provide education to all students, regardless of culture, race, or socioeconomic status. Sal mentions that students who missed school because they were working are able to make up the work on their own time. The information on Khan Academy is accessible, and provided in a variety of languages.

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Let's use video to reinvent education - Salman Khan

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Team A
Citation:
Edutopia. (2014, March 4). High School Teachers Meet the Challenges of PBL Implementation. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMCCLB9gOag.
Summary:
This video was created and published by Edutopia on youtube. It centers around Sammamish High School in Washington. The whole school transitioned from a traditional learning style to problem-based learning, and in the video, the teachers talked about the challenges and the benefits of this change. Thirty courses went through this transition, and this affected about 75 teachers. Many teachers had a hard time going through this transition because they had been teaching in the traditional style for a long time. The transition was especially difficult for mathematics and English teachers. They went through intensive training camps during the summer. Teachers saw that more students became engaged and used the books and topics they discussed in real life after the transition.

Analysis:

In the video, teachers in this high school saw the transition as a professional challenge for themselves and beneficial for all students in general.

Teachers had most difficulty transitioning maths and English classes because it is harder to create a problem-solving-centered curriculum for these subjects. Ina math class the teacher created projects such as creating games to make the students engage in problem-solving. These projects give students the chance to use what they learn and mix it with their creativity to create something entertaining. they see the value and use of their materials.

In English, one teacher had her class read a book and use what the students took away from the book to create a presentation based on their research and personal experience on the same teaching. Students learned about a vital piece of literature and how it can apply to the world around them. These presentations also helped them digest the course materials teachers provided.

After the transition, this high school saw an increase in maths and reading proficiency in exams and positive college aspirations. Students understood the subjects better through the new problem-solving learning style, and more students showed interest in continuing education afterward.

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High School Teachers Meet the Challenges of PBL Implementation

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Citation:
TED. (2016, September 26). Let’s teach for mastery -- not test scores | Sal Khan [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MTRxRO5SRA

Summary: This YouTube video, published by TED Talks and presented by educator Sal Khan, focuses on mastery framework. Sal Khan speaks about how the traditional schooling system builds on gaps in our education without properly allowing students to master the material first. Sal Khan stresses that since we now have the resources to allow students to take agency over their learning and enable all students to master material, we should take advantage of these means to help students reinforce the mindset.

Analysis:

This video addresses how the right pedagogical approach can enable students to succeed, which is directly relevant to our driving question. Students who once believed they didn't have it in their genes to become a mathematician, researcher, doctor, etc. can be proven otherwise through mastery framework.

Sal Khan is speaking based on his personal experience, the feedback from Khan Academy (his free education platform), and past research.

Sal Khan talks about how almost 100% of students CAN master subjects that are perceived as difficult given the right pedagogy. When students are taught under the mastery framework and take agency of their learning, the gaps in their knowledge are closed. Instead of moving onto the next subject even though you get a 85% on a test, you utilize the right resources to learn at your own pace and master the material.

This video addresses how innovation in technology allows students to take learning at their own pace and how teachers can dedicate class time for more engaging activity. Khan Academy accommodates a variety of languages, and is easily assessable.

The notion in this video can be limited by the lack of empirical data. Sal speaks mostly from his experience as an educator, but the outcomes for the mastery framework he speaks of aren't clear.

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Let's teach for mastery -- not test scores | Sal Khan

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Citation: Turner, J. D., & Danridge, J. C. (2014). Accelerating the College and Career Readiness of Diverse K-5 Literacy Learners. Theory into Practice, 53(3), 212–219. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2014.916963

Summary: In the age of rapid globalization, students need sharper critical thinking  and literacy skills to meet the demands of college and career readiness in the 21st century. In a 2012 survey of managers from a plethora of industries, the skill most in demand was teamwork and the ability to collaborate. Therefore a new system of criteria labeled the “Common Core State Standards” has been implemented by public schools in 45 states and the the District of Columbia.  Although it should be noted that states which do not adhere to this curriculum have designed theirs to prepare students for college and careers respectively. These new standards involve four parts that integrate complex comprehension of texts, teamwork, using technology strategically, and cross cultural awareness and understandings. The curriculum is designed to equip students with the tools they will need to follow their dreams and succeed in life.

Analysis:

The biggest issue in this career ready designed curriculum is that it does not prepare students for the monotony and boredom many jobs can bring. It is cruel and shortsighted to believe that every student has to go on to college and take on an exuberant amount of debt and then have an even slimmer chance at working at an elite company. While it is not inherently bad to encourage a child’s dreams, expectations for their futures should be managed. For example, every athlete that goes on to a Division One school and every valedictorian that enrolls in an elite college will find themselves surrounded by people who meet the same criteria. This will be a shock, and a curriculum that pushes students to follow their dreams, but with no realistic back-up plan will fail them in the end. Although the skills they will learn (and will be discussed below) will be valuable, their expectations for a future should not be seen through rose tinted glasses.

The first pillar is community oriented classrooms that focus on teamwork and collaboration. Even in the elementary level, they foster class discussions and conduct actives like Think-Pair-Share. These activities appear to be in line with the in demand skill, teamwork, cited the by the next as the next up and coming skill employers will be looking for. However, it does explain which employers would like this skill whether it be blue collar or white collar jobs or even by industry. It would be a problem if this study only applied to white collar, or competitive job markets.

The second pillar is the support with reading of complex texts. The article mentions the important of age appropriate material and rubrics to check the students’s understanding. It also mentions how historically marginalized students are given tasks focused on memorized rather than critical thinking. This is an important aspect of this article because every children regardless of any circumstance of their birth deserves the tools and mental framework to think critically. It does not mention how to override the inherent bias in teachers that focus on regurgitation of material instead of analysis. Even so, literacy is an important pillar of a healthy democracy. Regardless of the prestige of their college or employment, every student should mature into a thoughtful citizen capable of discerning motives and biases of news outlets, influencers on social media, and government officials and politicians. This critical eye will serve them well in navigating their own lives and making their own decisions and sifting through the never-ending waves of propaganda and manipulation. Especially in this age of technology and immediate gratification, children are bombarded with information and need critical thinking to recognize facts.

The third pillar is orchestrating content rich inquires which require a strong baseline of knowledge. Core subjects will include foreign languages, English, math, science, history, geography, and economics. Although this article is titled to be about Elementary age students, there is no explanation of how economics would be included in Elementary curriculum. That is not to say it cannot be done or should not be done, but that there is no explanation or example. Economics is an important subject that would not doubt be useful and introduction at a young age would make it more accessible in the middle and high school levels. Although, this is a short text that just gives a brief overview of the pillars.

The fourth and final pillar is enhancing cultural connectedness. This pillar is especially important in the context of rapid globalization and with social justice goals within the education system. Although the source only listed a few biographies of People of Color to enhance the curriculum, there are more ways than just biographies to explore and promote culture literacy. Student centered programs that let students express their own identities and bring in food from their culture to share with their classmates could promote cultural literacy. Instead of a biography which is so far removed and features people the students will never meet, students can interact with their own classmates. While this depends on the diversity of that school, it can also be supplemented by the teachers and potential surrounding small businesses. A local Ethiopians restaurant could partner with the school to organize a tasting and explanation of each dish.

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Accelerating the College and Career Readiness of Diverse K 5 Literacy Learners

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Citation:
Deci, E. L. (1982). Effects of performance standards on teaching styles: Behavior of controlling teachers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(6), 852–859. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.74.6.852

Summary: The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of performance standards on teaching styles. The researchers hypothesized that teachers who are told that they are responsible for their students' performing up to standards would demonstrate more controlling teaching styles compared to teachers who are not told so. This study's participants consisted of 40 undergraduate students who served the role of teachers. The authors referred to previous studies that displayed the differences between the effects supporting and controlling student autonomy had on students. This article sheds light on how support for the hypothesis could have implications on our current schooling system.

Analysis:

This study examined the effects of performance standards on teaching styles. This is relevant to the driving question because it is important to explore how different pedagogical styles come about, and are affected.

The data was collected by recording the subjects' voices during the experiment. Trained raters then listened and did objective ratings based on 14 categories including praise, directives, criticism, and more. Objective information such as hints given, solutions read, time spent talking, and more were recorded as well. Subjective information such as the teachers' enthusiasm, demeanor, and teaching attitude was also judged by raters. Finally, the teachers were given a questionnaire.

The results supported the hypothesis that teachers given the "controlling style directions" would display more controlling teaching styles. These teachers were recorded to have more criticisms, directives, talked more, and gave out more solutions.

These results, combined with previous studies, provide support for the notion that performance standards cause teachers to resort to controlling methods, which in turn diminishes intrinsic motivation in students and affects their performance.

This research could have been limited by a number of factors. First, the experiment took place in a lab setting and the teachers were undergraduate students. from the University of Rochester, which can limit the socioeconomic and cultural diversity to the school's statistics. The sample size was also relatively small.

The implications of this research are that our schooling system has a tendency to diminish self-esteem and intrinsic motivation in students. Since our system is so focused on performance and achievements, teachers may feel more pressure to pump out high numbers, causing them to adopt a controlling teaching style.

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Effects of performance standards on teaching styles_Behavior of controlling teachers

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Citation:
Kogan, M., & Laursen, S. L. (2014). Assessing Long-Term Effects of Inquiry-Based Learning: A Case Study from College Mathematics. Innovative Higher Education, 39(3), 183–199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-013-9269-9
Summary:
The study in this article focused on the effects of inquiry-based learning among undergraduate students. Students from over 40 mathematics courses from four different universities were part of the research data. These courses were a mix of IBL and non-IBL classes. Courses were in three Categories: L1, L2, and G1. Students were also selected based on their history of previous IBL courses, their GPA, SAT/ ACT scores, gender, and the courses they sign up for after the observed IBL courses. Students were in different categories, such as high achieving IBL students, low achieving IBL students, non IBL students. These categories broke into more subcategories based on their gender and the courses they took afterward. Instructors predicted that IBL would help students with the weaker academic background while students with the solid background will thrive in both IBL and non IBL courses. The study showed that low achiever IBL students had the most growth in their courses in terms of progress than high achievers or non IBL students. Women also tended to have a stronger sense of achievement through these IBL courses than men.

Analysis:

The data collected in this research show that students taking IBL courses have tended to do well or even better than non IBL students. There is often the concern that student-centered inquiry-based learning diverts students' attention from receiving important information that they might omit while working on their inquiries. This omission could affect them in more challenging courses in the future. However, the data shows that a student-centered learning environment helps students prepare for more challenging courses by giving them content information and problem-solving skills. As the instructors have predicted that low achievers will benefit the most through the IBL setting, the low achievers could have the most improvement in their studies through collaboration and problem-solving in groups.

There was also a trend of IBL students leaning towards taking more IBL courses than traditional courses, while non IBL students often continued with non IBL courses. Students taking more IBL courses indicate that most students who have taken IBL courses have a positive experience with it and might find it a beneficial learning style.

The researchers also looked at how this style of learning affects students in terms of their gender. The data showed that there were positive effects on both men and women. Women in IBL tended to have more intellectual gains than women in non IBL courses. IBL style helped women receive better grades than before and feel more confident in their knowledge and understanding of the course material. Their collaboration and problem-solving in the IBL courses gave them a sense of belonging in the discipline itself. They saw mathematics as something they would like to pursue for the future.

In summary, IBL is a learning style that can give average or low achieving and struggling students a chance to understand a course that might have seemed too complicated or something uninteresting. It gives students self-confidence and skills that they will take with them not just to another course next semester but throughout their whole lives.

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Affect of long term IBL in College Students

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Citation: Team, L. (2021, January 13). 9 Reasons Why you should implement Inquiry-Based learning in your classroom. Lab4U. https://lab4u.co/en/science-education/9-reasons-why-you-should-implement-inquiry-based-learning-in-your-classroom/

Summary: This is a “listicle”, an article formatted as a list, about 9 reasons why Inquiry-Based Learning is beneficials for middle and high school level science classes. Lab4U defines inquiry based learning as an active approach in which students are the driving force behind their own learning. This then develops long lasting and deeper learning than traditional methods. They cited a study that claimed their particular Inquiry Based teaching methods increased student interest in science and their likely-hood to join STEM related fields. Their methods increase the rigor of material and help develop skills for life long learning. It also helps students develop soft skills like teamwork, public speaking, and critical thinking. Inquiry based learning also frees up the teacher to visit each student individually and give personalized help. The last point they mention is that Inquiry Based Learning instills self confidence in the student. They freely experiment without fear of being wrong.

Analysis:

This company is based in Chile, USA, and Mexico and their mission is to increase the amount of women and ethnic minors in the STEM fields. The goal is to “democratize science” with this application that can be downloaded onto smart phones. It is supposed to save teachers and schools money on expensive lab equipment. However, this premise assumes that either all the children have phone or that the school can provide tablets for use of the app.

This website Lab4U is a company with the goal of selling an app for teachers to incorporate into their classrooms. With this in mind, the website does push not only the value of Inquiry Based teaching, but their version of inquiry based teaching. Their app does seem impressive and could be useful especially with the ubiquity of cell phones.  They have a link to a study that is in both English and Spanish, which is reasonable considered where this company is based. The study is also freely available and contains some engaging graphic design.

The study illustrates how this program has helped prevent students from dropping out by letting them use real world knowledge in the classroom.

Since this app is focused on science, it is self evident why it focuses strongly on students in STEM. In my opinion there is doubt to why this cannot be applied to languages, especially English to Spanish or Spanish to English. This company seems to be the innovative and already has a bilingual team. Creating an app that allows students to learn language through real world knowledge would be beneficial and also fitting with this company’s philosophy. English is the Lingua Franca of the current moment in time, but knowing Spanish as an American would open many doors for cross-cultural informational exchange. It seems like a missed opportunity for this company.

The 9 benefits listed in the article are concepts that are familiar to anyone who has even skimmed through some literature about Inquiry based learning. This article is geared towards people who don’t already use this method in their teaching. The last benefit listed is self-confidence. This would be an interesting and valuable benefit especially since their goal is more women and ethnic minorities in STEM fields.

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Why is Lab4U Inquiry-Based Methodology essential for teaching science to the next generation?

There's a lot of talk about the importance of inquiry-based learning.

Yet in spite of all the hype, there's often a lack of clarity around what, specifically, inquiry-based learning is.

While there's no one correct, all-encompassing definition, in general inquiry-based learning refers to a set of active approaches that encourage students to engage with new ideas through curiosity and exploration.

As protagonists of their own learning process, students develop new knowledge and skills while charting their own course. And therefore, develop longer-lasting competencies and key soft skills in the process.

Designing inquiry-based learning experiences for your students isn't easy, but it's worth it.

At Lab4U, we're committed to ensuring that all students, have the opportunity to learn science through inquiry.

Why? Because it improves student outcomes in the short-term, and helps them prepare for happy, healthy, and productive lives in the future.

Indeed, a 2018 Inter-American Bank Development Study found that Lab4U's inquiry-based solutions for middle and high school physics and chemistry classes increased student outcomes, self-perception, and interest in studying STEM in the future.

Keep reading to find out more about the benefits of inquiry based approaches to teaching and learning that still can inspire you in your own classroom!

1. Inquiry increases rigor and cognitive load

Inquiry-based learning pushes students beyond simply learning to memorize or remember, and toward applying knowledge in new domains, drawing connections among ideas, evaluating or challenging ideas, and additionally creating something completely new.

2. Inquiry increases engagement and interest

Inquiry-based learning connects a new concept or area of study with students own interests and lived experience. Therefore, this methodology awakens their natural curiosity. This Increasing engagement in learning experiences, hence are more relevant to students' lives .

3. Inquiry increases intellectual risk-taking

Inquiry-based learning experiences push students out of their comfort zone. Because it focuses more on exploring environments of varying levels of ambiguity, it lowers the perceived need to "get it right" that would otherwise make students wary of intellectual risk-taking.

Yet we've found that students are often enjoying themselves so much they don't even notice they're out of their comfort zone, happily exploring uncharted intellectual territory!

4. Inquiry develops key soft skills

Inquiry-based learning also effectively develops important soft skills that are key for student success in the 21st Century, such as creative problem solving, critical thinking, logical thinking, teamwork, and even written and oral communication.

5. Inquiry is a natural differentiator

With Inquiry-based learning, because they have a degree of autonomy to select how they want to approach a task, students have leeway to select a learning pathway that appeals to their preferred learning style. Students then have the space to learn in a way that makes sense to them.

There are also many possibilities for purposeful differentiation - since inquiry-based learning activities are naturally student-driven and semi-autonomous, teachers are free to circulate and give individualized instruction, small-group support, and extension activities to students who need it most.

6. Inquiry transforms a classroom of students into a classroom of teachers

Inquiry-based teaching can easily be combined with collaborative groupings. Because that allow students to work and learn as teams.

With clearly set expectations and carefully defined roles, students explore, discuss, and come up with creative ways to approach a complex task, learning more as a team than they would individually.

Often, peer learning is just as effective as teacher-led learning. Indeed, the most meaningful "aha!" moments often come in authentic interactions with peers. Then suddenly, your class is transformed into space where EVERYONE is a teacher!

7. Inquiry creates lifelong learners

Inquiry-based learning helps students become lifelong learners.

Life is about learning to navigate unfamiliar situations, and coming up with creative solutions in environments of uncertainty will help students find success not only in their current academic careers but will also help them adapt to a workforce and world that will continue to evolve in unexpected ways.

8. Inquiry triggers new approaches to solve a new type of problem

The global issues that our world is facing today are known as " wicked ". Problems for they're more complex than any problem our society has ever faced before.

There is no longer any good or bad solution able to solve a wicked problem such as climate change, nor there is any definite set of solutions to end world hunger, or any limit to scientific discoveries and innovations responding to the endless list of challenges humanity is facing.

Therefore, we need to enable the next generation today to face the world of tomorrow with a more dynamic and innovative way of thinking about problems.

And this is what inquiry-based learning teaches them to do by triggering their critical thinking capacities and pushing them to take action instead of learning passively.

9. Inquiry as a source of self-confidence

Inquiry-based learning allows students to embrace and feel comfortable with still with the possibility of making errors. Making it rather an opportunity for improvement.

Indeed, by challenging them to find solutions based on their own knowledge and experience, this learning approach empowers students to increase their self-confidence, and to freely experiment focusing on the inquiry itself rather than the fear of being "wrong".

Join us!

At Lab4U we designed tools to enable teachers to implement Iquiry-based methodology in their own classroom. From middle to high schools.

In addition, we love imagining a world in which ALL students have the opportunity to regularly engage in the big ideas of science. All of this Through inquiry, exploration, and discovery.

After that, if you're interested in learning more about how you can incorporate more learning into your science classes. Then check out Lab4U's solutions for middle and high schoolers! Visit our website or sign up for a 20 minute informational call.

Join the discussion!

In conclusion, we'd love to hear about how has inquiry-based learning helped improve student interest, motivation, or outcomes in your class? Let us know below, later!

Finally, if you want to find out more about Inquiry-Based Learning methodology, we invite you to visit these website;
https://tessais.org/the-benefits-of-inquiry-based-education/ https://www.topmostblog.com/benefits-of-inquiry-based-learning/ https://www.wabisabilearning.com/blog/inquiry-based-learning-advantages

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Why you should implement Inquiry-Based learning in your classroom

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There's a lot of talk about the importance of inquiry-based learning. Yet in spite of all the hype, there's often a lack of clarity around what, specifically, inquiry-based learning is. While there's no one correct, all-encompassing definition, in general inquiry-based learning refers to a set of active approaches that encourage students to engage with new ideas through curiosity and exploration.

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Inquiry Project Driving Question: How do different pedagogical styles affect learners and prepare them for their future careers and higher education?

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Inquiry Project Driving Question: How do different pedagogical styles affect learners and prepare them for their future careers and higher education?

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Resource Review #1 Team A

Citation:
Kahne, J., Crow, D., & Lee, N. (2013). Different Pedagogy, Different Politics: High School Learning Opportunities and Youth Political Engagement. Political Psychology, 34(3), 419–441. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2012.00936.x

Summary:
This article discusses different types of civic learning among high school students and how these types of learning affect students' engagement in politics in the future. The study focused on two types of learning: open discussion of societal issues and service learning. Open discussion could be group discussions or debates in class. Service learning is students volunteering in the community. This study included seven different school from different school districts in California in 2006. Researchers surveyed 11th and 12th students and had as much diversity as possible to contain no selection biases. Survey showed that students who learn civics and government through discussions among peers tend to become more interested and involved in politics than students involved in volunteering and social work. This politics is specifically "big P" politics such as election, campaigning, etc. This study was compared to a study conducted on students from 52 schools in Chicago from 2003- 2005. The studies were not the same, but they were similar enough to be compared and come to the same conclusion on how the two types of learning affect the students in the future. This conclusion is however, not mutually exclusive. Students could also be interested in political and social issues as well as work in their communities and volunteer.

Analysis:

The results of these studies show the importance of students becoming vocal about social and political issues and discuss their views and stances in order to create a stronger sense of engagement as well as the importance of it.
Students can also learn new information through these discussions and become comfortable in discussing controversial social and political topics.
Service learning such as volunteer work and community service can also instill the desire to become involved in community issues and politics, but lack of discussion in classrooms and at home can lead to disinterest in direct politics which is more confrontational than volunteering.
Teachers can make a significant difference in students' view of politics and government by creating political conversations in classroom and making students actively think about societal issues.
This study also shows that students who are taught in a setting where they are encouraged to vocalize their own ideas among each other are more inclined to become interested in the subject in the future than students more exposed to service learning which can be done individually.

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Inquiry Project Guiding Question: How do different pedagogical styles affect learners and prepare them for their future careers and higher education?

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Inquiry Project Guiding Question: How do different pedagogical styles affect learners and prepare them for their future careers and higher education?

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Resource Review #1 Team A

Citation: Illich, I. (2000). Deschooling Society (Open Forum S) (New edition). Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd.

Summary: The strong title of the “Deschooling Society” boils down to one concise point: that to liberate society and the indoctrination of school, anyone can to hold a meeting. Illich notices the rise of required schooling coincides with the rise of industrialization. Before this period, children were in the care of their parents. One example is that a child would sit and watch the sheep, until he became useful and could till the fields. With industrialization, parents are in the factories all day and need somewhere to put their children. Schools then take in the children and create a similar environment to a factory (although not stated it is assumed under the pedagogical technique of behaviorism due to this book being written in 1971).  This system trains students to know they need money, and gate keeps trade knowledge (eg. Beauty school, plumbing, etc). Teachers in this system serve as a terrible trifecta as custodian-therapist-moralist. The custodian leads students through these mundane rituals. The therapist delves into the personal lives of the student. The moralist imposes a set of beliefs listing right from wrong. Illich contends that this organization is oppressive and not conducive for actual learning. Illich proposes a new organization that focuses on people teaching skills to those who want to learn and peer sharing. He also advocations for open resources for students to access.

Analysis:

This book was written in 1971, well before the introduction of cognitivism and constructivism into schools. Ivan Illich is an Australian social critic and Roman Catholic priest.  Illich has a strong distaste for behavioralist schooling, and this bias shows it self when he argues for it’s abolition.  However, this book is the entire reason I am even thinking about this driving question and how pedagogical styles affect children. Although this source is not up to date with new pedagogical methods, it is a scathing and deserved critique of the behaviorist schooling system.

The teacher as custodian, therapist, and moralist is necessity with children of certain ages, which Illich does not seem to take into account. A room full of six year olds need a teacher present to make sure they get from lunch back to the classroom and that they do not hit each other or cut someone’s hair. A teacher as a therapist (although I personally believe that sometimes too much responsibility is placed on the teacher’s for a child’s psychological

There is a portion of the text the argues against the concept of Liberationism (against his friend Paulo Fiere). Illich states that schooling, and those who do not meet the requirement of a certain amount of years feel as though they have been robbed, and rightly so because without the minimum amount of schooling, there are great barrier to jobs. For example in the United States, required schooling is for 12 years, but in Mexico, it is 3 years. The students don’t complete the full required time are then excluded and aware that they are lacking something. Illich believes that there should have been no barrier in the first place and that skills should be learned outside of the classroom.

Illich’s ideas for peer to peer learning fit in with the pedagogy of Constructivism. The ability of anyone to hold a meeting fits in with this peer to peer exchange. With this modern pedagogy students hold their own education in their hands and focus on what they want to learn.

In this day and age of inquiry based learning, Illich might be impressed by the restructuring of power in the classroom and the freedom students have to navigate their own learning. The teacher’s role is less powerful and overbearing and has shifted to be a guide in the classroom.

My only questions left unanswered by this book and my research is how will this change in pedagogy help students with their future careers. Although America’s economy has shifted from material production to informational production, the work place has not changed as rapidly as school. Not everyone gets to have a six figure job at a big name in Silicon Valley with free gatorade and snacks. What about the rest who still have to work in the Fordist type individual environment where individual inquiry is discouraged and the glad hand of competition inhibits cooperation? These are questions I will be thinking about as I conduct more research.

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Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich (z-lib.org)

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Inquiry Project Guiding Question: How do different pedagogical styles affect learners and prepare them for their future careers and higher education?

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Inquiry Project Guiding Question: How do different pedagogical styles affect learners and prepare them for their future careers and higher education?

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Resource Review #1 Team A

Citation:
Kikas, E., Silinskas, G., Jõgi, A., & Soodla, P. (2016). Effects of teacher’s individualized support on children’s reading skills and interest in classrooms with different teaching styles. Learning and Individual Differences, 49, 270–277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.05.015

Summary: The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of teachers' individualized support on students' reading skills and interest in classrooms with child-centered, mixed child-centered/teacher-directed, and child-dominated teaching styles. The researchers in this study analyzed 552 participants from seven schools and 21 classrooms over the course of two years. This study is about how they try to determine how different teaching styles have an impact on children's academic and motivational development.

Analysis:

The study examined the effects of different pedagogical approaches on children's reading skills and interest, which is directly related to the driving question. Reading skills is a measure that many education institutions use to help determine a student's academic standing. Also, interest is a facet of motivation, which can be very important when it comes to a student's future, whether it's in school or at the job.

This resource was chosen because academic skills and motivation are characteristics that factor into students' future careers and higher education.

The data was collected by Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM) experienced observers. Children's reading skills and interest were assessed by research assistants. Most of the data was compiled using a scale.

Results showed that individualized teacher support did not have a significant effect on reading skills and interest in child-centered style classrooms. In mixed teaching style classrooms, individualized teacher support was negatively correlated with students' reading skills, but positively correlated with interest. Higher individualized support in classrooms with child-dominated style of teaching led to lower interest and reading skills.

These results favor teaching styles in which teachers are more involved with students over those in which students are mostly left in charge.

This research could have been limited by the small number of participating teachers. The teachers' individual beliefs and other characteristics also could have affected the children's development. Also, this study was conducted in Estonia, so results may not be applicable to children of different socioeconomic and cultural standing.

This study could be used with other research to examine certain teaching styles and how they affect not only reading skills and interest, but also cognitive skills, social skills, and other soft skills critical for the future.

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effects of teacher's individualized support